That Sinking Feeling
A Review of Kon-Tiki Interactive
John Butterfield
Thor Heyerdahl was a multimedia mogul before the term "multimedia" existed..
Part scientist, part adventurer and part showman, the Norwegian explorer has dedicated a long life to oceangoing voyages that attempted to show (if not prove) that ancient mariners could cross oceans in vessels that "experts" swore would sink just across the horizon.
Books by this larger-than-life character fired my imagination as a child. As I grew older and sought out the film documentaries he made during his voyages, I discovered the diminishing effect that can occur when events that lived in the mind are frozen on film. Through the documentaries I could see what actually transpired on those long voyages on the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947, or from Africa to the West Indies aboard the papyrus vessel Ra in 1970. But the pictures reduced the mind's adventures and made this larger-than-life man just -- a man.
Kon-Tiki Interactive takes that diminution down one step further, from just a man to just a program.
Kon-Tiki Interactive's introductory screen -- an appealing map of the world with circular hotspots for each of Heyerdahl's expeditions -- allows users to click their way to, among others:
-- the Tigris voyages, seagoing journeys to Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley, to show that the ancient world's first three great civilizations could cross-pollenate ideas, goods and people.
-- Ra I and Ra II, transatlantic trips (well, nearly transatlantic for Ra I, which fell a bit short) to show ancient Egyptians could have visited the Caribbean on ships constructed from gargantuan bundles of floating reeds.
-- Kon-Tiki, the legendary journey from Peru to Polynesia on a balsa raft -- the journey that made Heyerdahl famous in 1947.
-- the Easter Island expedition, which attempted to answer the question: "Why, if ancient Peruvians could travel through the Pacific to Polynesia, didn't they stop off at the Easter Islands, a relatively short journey off the coast of South America?"
Heyerdahl's answer: They did, as shown by artifacts he unearthed in archaeological expeditions there.
This is the stuff of adventure: iconoclastic ideas proven to an scoffing scientific establishment by manly men setting out on, if not a wing and a prayer, then a flimsy balsa raft and a boatload of courage.
Heyerdahl's voyages should fire the imagination of the viewers of Kon-Tiki Interactive, as they fired his own ambitions. So why does this CD-ROM feel so pedestrian?
There's just not enough here. A few short clips from Heyerdahl's filmed documentaries are included for each adventure -- scanty documentation from this master documentarian.
While hyperlinked text pops up with a few mouseclicks, one is left with mere tantalizing hints of the rich and wide-ranging adventures that fueled Heyerdahll's career. Somebody sorely misjudged the potential of this CD-ROM. It could have been the summation of Heyerdahl's life -- one-stop shopping for those who, like Heyerdahl, believe the modern age has sorely underestimated the abilities of the ancient world.
Instead, we have bits and pieces of a life that deserves much, much more.
At least viewers can hear from and see Heyerdahl as he is today on this CD-ROM. He pops up from time to time, charmingly modest, a dignified elderly man who candidly admits to knowing nothing about computers or the technology that has shortchanged his career. His presence is a reminder that some subjects are too large to be captured on a multimedia disk.
Still, there may be some good to come out of Kon-Tiki Interactive. After viewing the CD-ROM's version of this extraordinary man's life, viewers may decide to manually access a printed manual of the digitized information.
It's called a book. Sometimes, mere words will suffice.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
Kon-Tiki Interactive |
| Company: |
The Voyager Company
|
| Cost: |
$39.95 |
System Requirements:
Macintosh: Color-compatible Macintosh (68030-25 Mhz or higher processor) able to display thousands (16-bit) or millions (24-bit) of colors; 8 Mbytes of installed RAM (4,600 free; 5,200 free on Power Mac); 13-inch (640x480) or larger monitor; double-speed CD-ROM drive; System 7.1.
Windows: 486DX-66MHz or higher processor; 8 Mbytes installed RAM; 640x480 color monitor able to display thousands (16-bit) or millions (24-bit) of colors; double-speed CD-ROM drive; 16-bit sound card with speakers or headphones; Windows 3.11 or Windows 95; MS-DOS 6.0
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 3
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 3
Graphics 3
Sound 3
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.